him out.’
She found him a minute or two later in the treatment room next to hers. He was checking an ECG printout, while at the same time assuring his patient that he was in safe hands.
‘You’ve had a minor heart attack,’ he told the middle-aged man lying on the bed, ‘but we have things under control now. The medication should help to open up your blood vessels, and things should soon start to feel a lot easier. Just keep pulling on the oxygen.’
He glanced across the room as Alex put her head round the door. ‘So there you are,’ she said. ‘I’m glad I’ve run into you at last. I’ve been searching everywhere for you.’
‘What it is to be popular,’ he murmured, winking at his patient. He adjusted the settings on the medication pump and checked the drip. ‘What could be better than having a gorgeous young woman seeking you out?’
Alex pulled a face. He obviously knew how to charm the birds out of the trees. ‘I know you’ve a lot on,’ she murmured, ‘but I really need you to go over the drug expenditure figures with me some time soon—and I noticed your casualty cards aren’t up to date. We need to get them filled in so that we can check waiting times.’
‘Yes, of course.’ He nodded agreeably. ‘I’ve been working on it. We always try to fill these things in on time, you know, but it can get pretty frantic around here, and it isn’t always easy to keep up with the admin paperwork.’ He sent her an engaging smile, inviting her to agree with him, his blue gaze shimmering over her so that she found herself unwillingly caught up in his masculine magnetism and his easygoing manner.
‘Yes, well…um…’ She blinked. It was thoroughly disconcerting, the way he managed to tip her off balance. What was she thinking? She made an effort to pull herself together. ‘Maybe we could get together for a few minutes as soon as you’ve finished here and go through a few of the items we need to get to grips with? I’ll be next door in the paediatric bay, working with a patient.’
‘Sounds like a good idea. I’ll see what I can do.’ He was totally relaxed, completely unfazed by her request.
‘Good. That’s encouraging.’ She slanted him a brief, searching glance. ‘See you in a few minutes, then,’ she murmured.
She left the room, with a friendly nod to the patient, who was looking much better than he had done a short time ago, and went to see the toddler next door.
The infant was lying on a trolley bed, clearly feeling too wretched and uncomfortable to be held in his mother’s arms. A nurse was cooling him by holding a damp cloth to his forehead, but as Alex entered, she went to step aside.
‘That’s all right, Charlotte,’ Alex said. ‘You go on with what you’re doing. I’m sure he’ll feel much better for it.’
Alex smiled at the boy’s mother. ‘Mrs Stanhope, I understand Tom has been poorly for several days?’
The woman nodded. ‘It’s horrible to see him like this. He won’t eat, he keeps being sick, and now he has a temperature. I’m really worried about him.’
‘Of course you are.’ She looked at Tom. ‘The poor little chap looks really miserable.’ She spoke gently to the boy. ‘I’m going to try to make you feel a bit more comfortable, Tom,’ she murmured, ‘but I need to listen to your chest first…and maybe look at your tummy. Is that all right?’
The toddler looked uncertain, his lower lip trembling, and the nurse attempted to distract him by producing a teddy bear from a basket at the side of the bed. ‘Look,’ she said, ‘Teddy’s feeling poorly, too. His tummy hurts.’
Tom’s eyes widened and he gazed at the toy, putting out a hand to feel his silky fur. Alex sent the nurse a grateful glance and gently began her examination. When she had finished, she said softly, ‘That’s all done now, Tom. You were very brave.’
The boy clutched the teddy to him. ‘Teddy hurting,’ he said. ‘He feels sick.’ Suddenly all the colour left his face and the nurse promptly moved forward with a kidney dish, holding it in place as he began to retch.
Alex went to sit next to the child’s mother. ‘We tested Tom’s urine earlier,’ she told her, ‘and it looks as though he has a urinary infection of some kind. It’s quite possible that his kidneys are inflamed, so I’m going to start him on a course of antibiotics. I’ll give him the first dose by injection so that it will start to act quicker, but the rest we’ll give by mouth.’ She glanced at Charlotte and gave instructions about the medications. ‘And that includes something to ease the pain and bring down his temperature.’
‘Thank you.’ Mrs Stanhope seemed anxious. ‘How long will it be before he’s better?’
‘It could be two or three weeks. I feel we should admit him to hospital so that we can keep an eye on him—I know that’s probably worrying for you, but we have to make sure we deal with this properly, right from the start, and of course that way he’ll be on hand when we get the results of his urine culture back from the lab.’
Mrs Stanhope nodded. ‘It’s all right. I just want what’s best for him.’
‘That’s good. I’ll make the arrangements.’ Alex stood up and went back to her small patient. ‘Just a tiny jab,’ she told him, preparing the antibiotic injection. ‘It will all be over in a second or two.’
A few minutes later, she left the infant and his mother in Charlotte’s capable hands, and went to look for Callum. He was nowhere to be found, not in any of the treatment rooms, or in Resus, or even out by the ambulance bay. She checked the quadrangle where staff sometimes took a breath of fresh air between seeing patients, but he wasn’t there either.
She frowned. ‘Any sign of Dr Brooksby?’ she asked Katie as the nurse walked towards the reception area.
‘None at all.’ Katie shrugged lightly. ‘I expect he’s gone back to Resus.’
Alex suppressed a sigh. ‘Not to worry,’ she said. ‘I dare say I’ll catch up with him sooner or later.’
Katie nodded. ‘That’s how it is down here, unfortunately. Everyone’s so busy.’
Alex’s mouth made a flat line. Busy or not, they all had to work together to help streamline the department, or before too long the trust board would be calling for closures. One way or another they had to find time to cooperate with her. ‘If anyone needs me, I’m heading over to Pathology,’ she said.
She would take Tom’s sample over to the lab herself for culture, and ask if the results could be hurried up. Once they knew the bacterial culprit, they could choose the most appropriate treatment for the child. The wide-spectrum antibiotic she had used was a catch-all for the most likely bacteria, but given the severity of the infection it was possible that they needed to use something more specific to counteract it.
She walked into the lab a few minutes later, shooting a quick glance around the room. Over to one side, by the workbenches, she saw a by-now familiar figure huddled over a rack of test tubes.
‘So here you are,’ she murmured, after handing over the specimen to the lab technician. ‘I never would have thought to find you here, Dr Brooksby.’
He straightened, turning to look at her. ‘I’m checking on some samples I sent for testing. I want to see how things are coming along,
